Free Round Table Calls

The Final Round Table Conference Call is

Friday, May 21, 2021 Noon (Eastern Time)
Link will be posted on May 14.

This call will be my final one. I have met and worked with so many of you over the last two decades. My days as an MI trainer have been some of the most satisfying of my life. I suspect there are some of you out there who gained value from my training. As I hang up my “MI trainer” hat, I’ve love to hear from you. It would be great to see some of you again and to hear how your journey is going. This time it will be an open Zoom meeting. We’ll start at Noon, Eastern Time, and go until we’re done.

Also learn on the call about the exciting new fund at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. It will be available to support nutrition counseling research and for RDs to advance their counseling skills.


The recording of the Fall 2020 Round Table call is available here.

We had a lively discussion that included:

  • How to handle when you have a very different perspective or beliefs from your client
  • Making the shift from “cheerleading” to Mi-consistent affirming
  • Using session recordings to assess and practice
  • When a client is not happy with outcomes
  • Guiding a supervisee into MI training

The recording of the Summer 2020 Round Table call is available here.

Our discussion with a small group included:

  • How to handle when clients demonize a food or food group with good/bad thinking.
  • When a client says they know what to do; they just need help with motivation.
  • How to proceed with silent clients when it feels like you are “pulling teeth.”
  • The clients who take up the whole session and leave you little time to provide advice.

The recording of the Spring 2020 Round Table call is available here.

We had a lively discussion that included:

  • How to respectfully and effectively bring up the need for medication in a diabetes clinic.
  • Struggles with switching to nutrition counseling on the phone or video. We brainstormed lots of useful ideas.
  • How to convey what we can do when reaching out to patients in tele-health platforms or by phone.
  • Adapting to less referrals coming our way and ideas for reaching out to past clients.

The recording of the Winter 2020 Round Table call is available here.

We had a lively discussion that included:

  • Struggles with doing nutrition counseling on the phone
  • Handling resistance, especially the dismissive kind (“I already know all that.”)
  • The tendency to get complacent when in practice for a while
  • Setting up on-line support groups
  • Tricky aspects of using social media

The recording of the Summer 2019 Round Table call is available here. (Click on the left end of the bar.)

We had only two on the call, so we had a relaxed chance to go into a few topics deeply. Some of the topics we discussed:

  • Working with outcomes of nutrition changes other than weight, especially with teens who are focused on weight.
  • Ideas for talking with parents who have gotten a message from a doctor that, “it’s your job to make your child lose weight.” How to shift the focus from weight to health? I forgot to mention on the recording that I have a transcript of an interview I did with Ellyn Satter a while back that may be useful. Email me if you would like a copy of that interview.
  • Approaches for working with an extremely resistant client (in this case, in a dialysis clinic.)

The recording of the Spring 2019 Round Table call is available here. (Click on the left end of the bar.)

We had 11 on the call. Some of the topics we discussed:

  • Clients who keep coming back and are not making any changes
  • Getting back on topic when a client brings up important, but not nutrition, concerns
  • Whether to weigh clients or not
  • Working with outcomes of nutrition changes other than weight

The recording of the Winter 2019 Round Table call is available here. (Click on the left end of the bar.)

Unfortunately, my voice level is quite low in the first 15 minutes of this call. It then gets better. I apologize. We had 12 on the call. Some of the topics we discussed:

  • The client who “knows it all” and says she can’t do it
  • Using scaling questions
  • What is a reasonable time to allot for behavior change conversations
  • What about clients who lie or don’t seem to trust us
  • Brief sessions

During the call I mentioned several Tips that are in my archives.

  • Dealing with Overwhelm, #99
  • The Process of Engagement, #115
  • Resistance, # 103, #130
  • Brief Action Planning, #126
  • Taking Notes During a Session, #127